Recently, the Louisville Courier-Journal published an opinion piece titled “Coal and gas plants aren’t the solution to power outages. LG&E needs a better way.” The piece correctly emphasizes the importance of maintaining reliable and affordable electricity for all Kentuckians, but slightly mischaracterizes the conversation around possible solutions. In response, our coalition sent a letter with several important clarifications, which we have shared below.
Dear Editor:
The July 19 opinion piece “Coal and gas plants aren’t the solution to power outages” urged the Public Service Commission to evaluate options to improve reliability of the LG&E/KU system. We agree that considering options is the right approach for ratepayers. However, the opinion piece referred to a “false narrative that fossil fuels are the only reliable sources” of electricity. We are not aware of anyone, including Dependable Power Kentucky, saying that, so we wanted to set the record straight. No electricity source is 100 percent reliable all the time, but some sources are more reliable than others. The operators of the two largest electricity systems in the U.S. have determined that coal and other dispatchable sources of electricity are more reliable than wind and solar power when electricity demand peaks. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation report referenced in the opinion piece contained other information that should have been mentioned, such as the reliability of coal-fired power plants improved last year compared to the year before, while wind declined. Kentucky ratepayers deserve the most reliable and affordable sources of electricity. Coal meets both of those criteria.
Sincerely,
Katelyn Bunning
Executive Director, Dependable Power First Kentucky
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